Popular
by Sara Jaye
Summary: She'd been angry with him more times than he could count, but he'd never seen her this upset before. Jun and Jinpei deal with the aftermath of the latter's recklessness in episode 8.


I wrote this as follow-up to episode 8, "Secret of the Coral Reef". Or as I like to call it, the episode that made Jinpei one of my all-time favorite kid characters in all of anime.

-x-

Jun had conked him on the head, elbowed him in the ribs and called him an idiot more times than he could count since they'd known each other; just as it was in his nature to get in trouble and tease her, it was in her nature to respond like any big sister would.

But until today, she'd never slapped him so hard or called him an idiot with such intensity. She was far from the only one; even Dr. Nambu had scolded him for his reckless behavior. _Katse could've killed you if the others hadn't shown up in the nick of time_, he'd said. _But I distracted Galactor so you could finish the real base_, Jinpei had argued.

It was ironic, really. His efforts to make G-4 more popular had made him decidedly unpopular with his teammates.

Especially Jun.

"You could have gotten yourself _killed_ out there," she snapped. "Do you realize how much you had us worried?! I was about ready to give you up for dead!" Her voice broke, tears of anger and pain welling in her eyes. "You_ idiot._"

"I wanted to be _popular_, sis, you don't understand! I did something great and all you guys can do is give me grief for my mistakes!" Jinpei bit his lip to stop it from trembling, and she slapped him again.

"All right, mister, I've had just about enough of your little popularity obsession! Are you really stupid enough to buy into what a bunch of strangers say?" she demanded. "It doesn't matter what they think, what matters is how well you're doing your job!"

"What job? Ken's the leader, Joe fires the Bird Missiles, Ryu mans the controls and you're the smart one. I'm just a kid and no one ever takes me seriously, especially you guys! I thought if I were the most popular you'd stop teasing me."

"_No_." Jun's hands gripped his shoulders so hard her knuckles began to whiten. "First of all, you tease us all the time so it's only fair we get in a few shots," she laughed, then became serious again. "But more importantly, you've always done your job well and you're as good a member of the Science Ninja Team as any of us!"

"You're just saying that." Jinpei stuck out his lip. Jun sighed, loosening her grip only to pull him into a crushing hug. "Hey, what gives?" He could feel her tears dripping onto his face.

"If we lost you, we wouldn't just be losing a valuable team member," Jun whispered. "You're our friend...and even more than that you're _my _ little brother."

She was crying now, and Jinpei felt worse than ever at how he'd acted. She'd done so much for him, starting with adopting him when she herself was only a child, and for the past few days all he'd done was cause her anguish.

"I'm always a pain in your neck," Jinpei mumbled, the words wet and barely audible against her shoulder. "I make fun of you and cause a lot of trouble and drive you crazy. I'm sorry, sis."

"Oh, Jinpei..." Jun ruffled the back of his hair, a gesture that usually embarrassed him. "Yes, you are a pain in my neck and sometimes I wish you'd grow up a little faster. But you're my only little brother and I wouldn't trade you for anything. Remember when we first met Dr. Nambu? I wouldn't go with him unless he would take us both."

Jinpei slid his arms up around her neck, smiling a bit in spite of himself.

"Yeah, I remember."

"And Dr. Nambu hasn't regretted letting you on the team, so that should say something." Jun smiled through her tears. "Now you promise you won't pull anymore crazy stunts like this?"

"I'll try," Jinpei said. "But sis? You think someday I'll ever be someone's favorite?"

Jun sighed.

"You've got to let this go. Popularity doesn't mean anything when it comes to saving the Earth!" she said. "You're a good ninja, you're vital to the team and that's all that should matter. Got it?"

"All right, all right." Jinpei wriggled out of his sister's embrace and swiped at his cheeks, now embarrassed at having been so emotional.

"And I'm sorry I hit you so hard," Jun said. "I was just angry."

Jinpei laughed.

"I got bounced around, netted and almost eaten by Galactors and you think _your _puny girl slaps hurt me? Man, sis, you've got some serious ego problems."

"Why, you-" Jun lunged forward to tackle him, but he was too quick for her. "Ugh! You little brat!"

But she was smiling.


End file.
